2010 Crozes-Hermitage Rouge, Maison Nicolas Perrin, Rhône

A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries. It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness. South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.

This is the largest AC in the Northern Rhône, producing over half of the Northern Rhône’s total production. The appellation was created in 1937 with the single commune of Crozes, but today there are 11 communes. The Syrah variety is king, but Marsanne and Roussanne are also permitted (up to 15 percent). The wines vary hugely in quality and style, with the majority of the reds fairly light in style.

Maison Nicolas Perrin is an exciting new venture, linguistically an amalgam of our old friend Nicolas Jaboulet and the Perrin family who, of course, own Ch. de Beaucastel, and it is therefore a venture with great potential. In essence the finest producers in the south of the valley have harnessed the expertise of one of the greatest names in the North to forge a new and dynamic range, working with some of the best growers in some of the best vineyards. Beaucastel exploits many different grapes on fundamentally the same terroir, whereas Nicolas is attempting to do the reverse with the same variety of each colour.